Vern Cotter rings changes to Scotland side for Italy clash
Thursday 20 August 2015 16:38, UK
Scotland have named three uncapped players in their starting XV for the World Cup warm-up game against Italy on Saturday.
John Hardie comes in at open-side flanker as part of a new-look back row, with fellow debutants Stuart McInally and Rory Hughes coming in at hooker and wing respectively.
Head coach Vern Cotter has made 11 changes in total to the team which lost 28-22 to Ireland last weekend.
Grant Gilchrist is named as captain and is the only member of the pack to keep his place as he is joined in the second row by British and Irish Lions lock Richie Gray.
There is also an all-new half-back pairing of Sam Hidalgo-Clyne making his first start alongside Duncan Weir – the scorer of the match-winning drop-goal on Scotland's last trip to Italy in 2014.
There are two other possible debutants on the bench with prop Willem Nel and wing Damien Hoyland and they are joined by club-mates Alasdair Dickinson and Hamish Watson among the replacements.
Coach Cotter admits his side are under pressure after six straight defeats - but claims talking about it ahead of this weekend's game in Turin will only make matters worse.
He said: "I think (results this year) will bring added pressure. We are focusing on the content of our rugby and if we can look after that, put in a good performance and do things well, the results will look after themselves.
"There were some promising things last week and the content is important. Obviously everyone is aware of results but added pressure on the team will only stop it performing.
"It's not a competition yet. These are games that are there to help us prepare for the World Cup. This weekend there will be things that are very good and things that aren't.
"Our combinations are changing but we are looking to get a cohesive performance from the players."
Ryan Grant, meanwhile, could still play a part in the World Cup after it was confirmed his ankle injury was not as bad as first feared.
The Glasgow front-rower twisted the joint just minutes into the defeat at the Aviva Stadium and it was thought the prop had suffered a break.
After it was confirmed that was not the case, Cotter now hopes to have 29-year-old Grant available in time for the Scots' opening Pool B fixture with Japan in Gloucester on September 23.
He added: "Ryan has given his ankle a nasty twist. He is between three weeks and a month from coming back.
"He has not been ruled out of the World Cup in the eyes of our medical staff. They think there will be a pretty quick turnaround so we're keeping our fingers crossed."
Scotland: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Stuart McInally, 3 Mike Cusack, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 7 John Hardie, 8 Adam Ashe.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Damien Hoyland.
